When I first read the following words in the June 2009 issue of The Mensa Bulletin, I almost dismissed them as pop psychology, self-help BS. However, reading the therapist’s thoughts about the ranking of the three items helped me to understand that the real value is the prioritization. Here they are:

There are only three things to remember:

1. I will be happy

2. I will make some money

3. I will make other people happy

One hundred percent of the people I saw agreed with the three, but not one of them had the order right! Get them out of order an it will fail, ultimately.

–Bernard Kitt, Ph.D on a psychotherapist’s solution to personal problems

With unexpected things happening this summer, some of them pretty significant, I was not able to read as much as I’d planned. I’m currently reading Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas, which all of our incoming freshmen are reading. I have to say that so far I’ve found that “Mildly Amusing in Farsi” would have been a more apt title, but it wouldn’t have sold many copies. I will say the book is educational for anyone such as I, who is fairly ignorant of Middle Eastern culture and how different it is from American culture.

I also read the timeless gem The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. She is up there with Faulkner and Flannery O. I read a very interesting quirky book called Butcher Boy by Patrick McCabe. I recommend it for anyone who wants something a little different. As usual, I’ve read many short stories. I highly recommend Kevin Winchester’s Everybody’s Gotta Eat. Winchester’s ear has perfect pitch for southern dialects. I’m just starting to check out Cut Men by Steve Taylor. Very strong so far. Outliers by Malcom Gladwell is a nonfiction book that validates some things I believed to be true via my own anecdotal evidence.

I’ve talked to several poets this summer and I hope to read their work soon.

Hope others had good summer reading. Please share any titles you found particularly valuable in some way.

Welcome to my blog, which I plan to use for many purposes, including random rants and rambling, but my primary purpose here is to introduce myself as a writer and showcase (a euphemism for “shamelessly promote”) my writing.

My first book of short stories, Rapture Practice, has just been released. Copies are available at http://www.mainstreetrag.com/store/MSRFiction.php The book is also available through Barnes & Noble Online and Amazon.com, and at select bookstores nationwide.

I will be announcing public readings and book signings as their dates approach One of these will be a reading and signing on September 28, 2009 at 7:30 at the Hub-Bub Showroom in Spartanburg, South Carolina. You can check out the Showroom and its “Hub Culture” at http://www.hub-bub.com

By the way, I was at The Showroom last night for a fiction reading by Brian Ray, whose new novel Through the Pale Door won the South Carolina First Novel Prize. I was so impressed I bought a copy with money I don’t really have (good literature does that to me–otherwise I’m pretty frugal) and I can’t wait to read it.

If you love good literature as much as I do, please help it survive by supporting emerging writers. Thanks for reading. More soon,